“65. Cayey, Porto Rico. – Cayey is an important inland town, 2,300 feet above the sea and about 37 miles from San Juan on the military road from there to Ponce. During the Spanish-American war the city was about to be attached, [attacked] when news was received of the signing of the protocol.”

Port by any other name…

Yes, that “Porto” spelling looks odd: In browsing online newspapers it appears that both spellings were being used at least as early as the 1890s. At some point “Puerto” became the standard, but we found evidence of “Porto” as late as the mid-1950s.

The card is not in the best of shape but if this particular Charles W. Bennett family is part of yours, then it’s a very nice find! The 1910 Federal Census shows them at 1132 Oak Street but by the 1915 State Census either the house got re-numbered, or they had moved to 1113 Oak, the address on the postcard.

Addressed to: “Mrs. Charles W. Bennett, 1113 Oak St, Elmira N.Y.”

An old-time-y occupation

Charles Bennett’s occupation on both records was street car conductor; he was born about 1875; married to Jennie, born about 1873; their son, Clifford, was born about 1907. All are New York natives. The 1910 shows the young family living with Charles’ mother, Harriet, and her husband (Charles’ step-father) E. B.[?] Whitmore. By 1915, the Bennett Family has Jennie’s mom, Clara Haight, with them. The card’s sender was either Jennie’s mother or mother-in-law. She wrote:

“Dear daughter Jennie, we are very sorry to hear of your sickness and hope you are better by now. we are better than a week ago. Papa feels quite a lot better but not very well yet, I am quite well now, have a lot of snow banks did not get any mail Monday nor Tuesday. It is blowing today. hope the rest are well wish I could be out to help you. Mama.”

The street name is unknown, but this is a wonderful glimpse back in time, circa 1920s Havana. Note the cobblestone street, streetcar, the rear-view of the smaller vehicle of the rubber-tired variety 😉 the beautiful wrought iron railings, the very tall double doors on the corner building on our left, and the people going about their day. Funny that everyone in the photo, except for those appearing in the extreme background, are facing us. Check out the guy partially in our view on the far right. He’s easy to miss!

Spanish-born hat maker, Evaristo Tanda

We’re not seeing Havana city directories for this time-period online at present, though maybe someone will post a comment which will help pinpoint the street, but in any case, the most prominent business sign in the photo shows: “Evaristo Tanda – Fabricante de Gorras” translating as “Evaristo Tanda – Manufacturer of Caps.” Evaristo was born in Spain about 1885. He appears on several ship passenger lists; the 1915 and 1917 record that he was single, occupation Merchant, and reveal that he had cousins, Angel and Francisco Puentes, in Matanzas, Cuba (could be city or province) the city being located on the northern coast of Cuba (about an hour and a half east from Havana, in present-day drive time.)

The 1917 passenger list for Evaristo Tanda and others, records their arrival from Cuba to New York, on Morro Castle. Research shows this was likely the passenger steamer built October 1900, original owner NY & Cuba Mail, which was scrapped in 1926, definitely not to be confused with the ship whose name became well-known (at least at that time) after the terrible 1934 Morro Castle tragedy, in which that vessel was destroyed by fire under mysterious circumstances which resulted in the loss of 137 members (accounts vary) of passenger and crew.

Below, Evaristo Tanda’s 1917 arrival in New York from Cuba on the earlier steamer Morro Castle:

I think of Cuba when I look at this image – just an impression; the location and the man’s ancestry is certainly unknown. No name attached (as in most tintypes found.) The plants in the foreground look real, and it seems unusual (as in sort of messy) that there’s some type of fabric laying on the fake rock that his left hand rests on. If you look closely, you can see there’s a border, similar to the lapel trim on the below-the-knee coat he’s dressed in, but wider. And he wears his wide-brim, low-crown derby tilted back, a silk necktie, and vest with watch and fob. As for the date of the tintype, possibly mid-1880s: there’s an almost identical-looking coat, except for the buttons, appearing on another gentleman, and showing a somewhat similar necktie, which is estimated have been taken around 1885.

From the dark splotches and the general look of the photo, the original image was probably a tintype. How wonderful to have some i.d. written on the back, and one of the best clues within that writing is the use of the parentheses: “Mother” Gunderson is likely someone that the “writer” either knew personally or had heard plenty of references to, within the family. In other words, it’s a good bet that this beautiful lady had lived with or near her kids and grandkids in the (most likely) United States, rather than having stayed in the “old country.”

Possible related family surnames: Working, Salisbury, and Lesher

After searching thru census, family tree and grave site records, we have a strong possibility that the lady was named Anna, born about 1798 – 1809 in Norway, married to John Gunderson, born about 1797 in Norway. The 1857 Minnesota State Census for Belle Plaine, shows them living next door to Daniel W. Working, born 1827 in Pennsylvania, “Levi” Working (Leeve listed incorrectly as male) born Norway about 1830, and their son, about one year old John Brown Working, born in the Minnesota Territory (M.T.)

Per family trees in Ancestry, Leeve Elizabeth Gunderson married Daniel Webster Working in 1855 in Minnesota and had six other children after John B. True, it’s possible the above is not the correct match for our photo, however, no other near matches were found. And this one fits quite well for dates. Find A Grave has Leeve’s headstone showing born September 14, 1825 and died April 18, 1878.

Other Ancestry tree info has sisters of Leeve (aka Libby or Olivia) as Adeline (Gunderson) Salisbury (1830 – 1900) and Anna (Gunderson) Lesher (1832 – about 1887). And a date of death for our possible Anna “Mother Gunderson” as 1906. If the 1870 and 1880 Federal Census records are correct for Anna’s year of birth (1798) then she would have been about 108 years old when she died.

Above, the reverse side of the CDV from the prior post for photographer Axel Sjöberg.

So, we see it was at least 1905 when this particular CDV was created, per the dates advertising the awards won, and where and when. “Prisbelönt Med Diplom Samt Svenska Turistföreningens Hederspris” translates from Google as: Award-winning with diploma and Swedish Tourist Association’s Honorary Award. Note the beautiful flower and cross design in Malmö, (and underneath: Stortorget, indicating Sjöberg’s Malmö studio was located in the Main Square.)

In looking online for biographical info for this photographer, we found other CDVs, Cabinet Cards from the 1880s, verification of some of his awards mentioned in various publications of Svenska turistföreningens årsskrift (Swedish Tourist’s Association Yearbook) and a grateful acknowledgement to Sjöberg (among others) from author William Widgery Thomas, Jr. in Sweden and the Swedes (1893) for the use of his landscape photos, “…especially along the Göta Canal.” Check out the illustrations and other artwork in the eBook, and it looks like great reading (Now, where to find the time? 😉 ) The book was also published in Swedish.

Stepping stones….

From one bit of information to the next, like jumping from stone to stone we find:

From the Swedish website Moderna Museet: “Axel Sjöberg (1865-1936). Active in Malmö. He won second prize in the Swedish Touring Club’s first competition in 1933 for his characteristic and poetic images of the flat landscape of Skåne. He also won second prize in the next two competitions organized by the Swedish Touring Club.”

From the website KulterNav: The full name for the photographer wasPer Axel Sjöberg, born June 15, 1865 in Södertälje, Södertälje kommun, Stockholms län (Södertälje, Stockholm County, Sweden). He died July 19, 1936 in Skåne län (Skåne County, Sweden).

Then, a Household Clerical Survey record confirming name, date of birth and occupation, recorded that he’d moved in 1887 from Södertelge to Karlsborgs garnisonsförsamling, (parish) in Skaraborg County. And the online death record showed his place of death as Malmö, Skåne County, Sweden.

The most recent year on the back of the CDV, advertising the photographer’s awards and locations given, shows 1905; very helpful in placing an approximate date for the photo of the beautiful Swedish woman with the regal bearing. Is she the same woman from the prior post, but somewhat older? Maybe, or maybe not, but there does seem to be a resemblance. Both CDVs were found in the same bin at one of the recent paper fairs in San Francisco, so if they are not the same person, they could at least be related. And in looking closely at her plaid blouse it appears to be made from flannel.

A portrait of a young Swedish couple (for me the gentleman bears a strong resemblance to former Detroit Red Wing hockey player Tomas Holmström, the “Demolition Man” and Tomas-a-loca!, per my husband who is forever making up names for everyone, okay to be precise, it was a borrowed expression from someone he used to work with, but adapted to Homer. Yes, we’re huge Wings fans….) We have another Carte-de-Visite of a woman (found in the same group of old photos) and we wonder if she is one and the same or if they are sisters. She’ll be up in the next post.

As to the photographer, the back of the card shows: “Gustaf Brink, P.D. Hoffotograf, Sw. Swenssons Atelier, Engelholm, Storgatan 55, Telefon 236.” We’re not finding anything in the way of a biography for Gustaf Brink, but the Swedish genealogy website Rötter has a number of CDVs by him. The town of Engelholm is found on the map spelled Ängelholm, and we see “Hoffotograf” spelled “Hovfotograf” and translated in Google as “Court Photographer.”